The First Descendant: Dia Build & Best Loadout S3E3

Welcome to The First Descendant Dia Build Guide for Season 3 Episode 3. In this guide, we’ll show you how to unleash the full potential of Dia, the first character with a lance in The First Descendant. The build will include the perfect weapons, stats, and modules. This guide covers everything you need to create a truly devastating build for Dia.

Table of Contents for the Dia Build:

1. How to play Dia: A Deep Dive
2. Dia Builds Overview – Modules
   1. Dia Mobbing Build
   2. Dia Bossing Build
3. Dia Trigger Module
4. Dia Ancestor Modules
5. Arche Tuning for Dia
6. Dia Equipment Overview
   1. Best Weapons for Dia
   2. Best Reactor for Dia
   3. Best External Components for Dia
   4. Inversion Reinforcements
   5. All Dia Transcendent Modules Explained
7. Dia Basics
   1. How to unlock Dia
   2. Skills Explanation – Master Dia’s Abilities
   3. Module Basics Explained!
   4. Best Grapple Hook for Dia
8. Dia’s Story

For builds on other Descendants, visit our The First Descendant Builds Database, or check out the Character Tier List or the Weapon Tier List. 

TFD Wiki: We have expanded Alcasthq with tfd.gameslantern.com, a Wiki & Database for anything related to The First Descendant. Use the Character Editor or the Weapon Editor to theorycraft and create builds yourself. Browse Descendants, Weapons, Leaderboard Loadouts or use the Compare Tool. There are plenty of other features you can check out, too!

Here is a quick list of the strengths and weaknesses of the Dia Build for The First Descendant.

How to Play Dia in the First Descendant

In this section we are going to take a look at how Dia works in The First Descendant. Dia is an Chill based Descendant best placed as a melee crit-build. Learn about her skills in detail in Dia’s Skill Explanation section.

Dia gets more powerful by equipping a melee-based weapon because of her passive Frozen Delight.

This increases her Skill Critical Rate by up to 45%. Max HP x 0.13%. To hit the 45%, you need 34616 HP.

• To reach 10%: ~7,693 HP
• To reach 20%: ~15,385 HP
• To reach 30%: ~23,077 HP
• To reach 40%: ~30,769 HP
• To reach the 45% Cap: 34,616 HP

Dia’s AoE Capabilities: Tow All Enemies Together!

Dia is a melee-based character. Her skills pull enemies together at one location and move them slowly forward. Perfect for a weapon like the Shadow Sword that deals massive AoE damage at one location with its special ability.

– For more challenging dungeons or content, the Dia Mobbing Build balances AoE damage power with survivability.

Dia’s Single Target Damage: Chill Burst

This setup is optimized to deal as much damage as possible to Colossuses. Here you must slot her Chill Brand transcendent Module, this changes her skills to deal more single-target damage.

•  The Dia Bossing Build offers solid survivability, sustain and great damage with a short cooldown on Dia’s skills.

Dia’s Equipment: Make Or Break It!

To unlock Dia’s full potential, you need the right Weapons, Reactors, and External Components:

• Weapons: Focus on two general damage-dealing weapons and one weapon tailored to whatever you need for utility or special mechanics. See the Best Weapons for Dia section.
• Reactors: Selecting the right reactor can drastically boost your damage. Check out the Best Reactors for Dia section.
• External Components: These are critical for survivability. Properly configured, they double or tripple your HP or DEF. Learn more in the Best External Components for Dia section.

Building a top-tier The First Descendant Dia Build requires not only the right modules but also optimized weapons, reactors, and components.

Best Dia Builds Overview for The First Descendant

In this section, we are going to look at the best Dia Build Setups for The First Descendant. The optimized setups require a lot of Crystallization Catalysts. We have a full guide on how to farm Crystallization Catalysts in The First Descendant. The Budget setup requires no Crystallization Catalysts.

All Dia build setups require an Energy Activator to increase the Module Capacity. We also have an in-depth guide on how to farm Energy Activators in The First Descendant. Additionally, you will need plenty of Kuiper Shards and Gold to increase Module Levels. Here are the Top 3 Kuiper Shard farm spots!

Equipment: I will cover Weapons, Reactors, and External Components in the Dia Equipment section. To maximize the power of any build, you must get the correct items!

• How to get Modules: Read the Module Farming section.
• 85 Module Capacity How? Read the basics Module section.

Dia Mobbing Build

Dia Bossing Build for The First Descendant

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Arche Tuning for Dia

• Left Image: Mobbing
• Right Image: Bossing

The Arche Tuning System in The First Descendant is important for every Character; it buffs your stats by a good amount. For The First Descendant Dia, we are focusing on the right and upper-right sections.

You level up Arche Tuning in the Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation & various other locations. Mutant Cells also drop there with a small chance.

Dia Arche Tuning Mutant Cells:

• Mobbing: Arche Concentration
• Bossing: Defense Neutralization & Arche Concentration

Dia Equipment Overview in The First Descendant

Equipment is the cornerstone of any successful The First Descendant Build. For Dia, having the right setup can mean the difference between dominating a dungeon and falling short. This section breaks down the essential equipment types—Weapons, Reactors, External Components, and Transcendent Modules—and explains how they maximize her power.

Dia Equipment Guide

Equipment Type	Importance	Key Benefits
Weapons	Critical for maximizing damage.	Increases overall DPS. Amplifies the effectiveness of skills. Proper weapon selection can double or triple damage.
Reactors	Essential for boosting skill damage. Incorrect reactors severely reduce effectiveness.	Enhances skill potency. Ensures Dia’s abilities perform at peak levels.
External Components	Arguably the most impactful equipment. Dramatically improves survivability and utility. Set Buffs with 2/4 pieces.	Quadruples stats like HP or DEF. Adds utility like MP recovery. Enables effective performance in high-difficulty content. Core System Enhancements.
Inversion Reinforcements	Adds further buffs to your build.	Perks that can make a difference in build power.
Transcendent Modules	Unlocks advanced playstyles. Essential for specialized builds.	Significantly boosts skill efficiency and power.

Best Weapon for the Dia Build in The First Descendant

Here, you will find the Top 3 Weapons for Dia in The First Descendant that I love to run, among some alternative weapons that you can also test out if you want.

Top Weapons for Dia

Note: Dia gets extra power by holding a melee weapon from her passive Frozen Delight.

Top 3 General Weapons for Dia

Weapon	Category	Key Features	Why It’s Great for Dia
Hypernova	Sword	Deals massive AoE damage.	Great for Dia because her skills pull enemies into one place. You can finish them off with Shadow’s AoE special skill.
Hypernova	Sword	A throwable sword that tows enemies together.	Pulls enemies together, making them easy to kill.
Deus Ex Manus	Sword	Single-Target DPS.	Strong Single-Target Damage.

Best Reactor for Dia in The First Descendant

Selecting the best reactor for Dia in The First Descendant can significantly enhance her abilities, allowing you to maximize her effectiveness in various scenarios. Not only does the reactor determine your skill damage, but it also gives additional secondary benefits through modifiers. These are often hard to get and take time to grind out!

It is hard to get a Reactor with two best in-slot specs. However, you should be able to get a Reactor with at least one good spec. I will highlight the more important spec in bold in the table below.

How to find the Location of Reactors

Reactor drop locations change every day. Not many players know this. Now there is a reactor search function in-game. Go to the map and press on Difficulty Level Rewards. In here you can see where currently all the reactors drop.

Note: It is possible that no such reactors drop currently. Come back here every day and check if one drops.

If our specified reactor drops in an area, you go there and farm missions and monsters. There will be plenty of reactors dropping from monsters all over the place, any monster works. It will take a while to get a good reactor!

Best External Components for the Dia Build

The best External Components set that works with the Dia Build is the Polar Night Set for mobbing. For bossing we want to use the Slayer set to maximize damage.

Dia doesn’t need MP, so you can use any other useful stats there.

Note: Polar Night has a lot of extra base HP, whereas Slayer doesn’t have this! Make sure to take that into your calculation because of her passive Frozen Delight.

• Mobbing: 4 x Polar Night
  • Polar Night Auxiliary Power: Max HP & Any Resistance
  • Polar Night Sensor: HP Recovery Modifier & Consumable Drop Rate
  • Polar Night Memory: DEF & Shield Recovery in Combat
  • Polar Night Processor: Max Shield & Shield Recovery Modifier
• Bossing: 4 x Slayer
  • Polar Night Auxiliary Power: Max HP & Any Resistance
  • Polar Night Sensor: HP Recovery Modifier & Consumable Drop Rate
  • Polar Night Memory: DEF & Shield Recovery in Combat
  • Polar Night Processor: Max Shield & Shield Recovery Modifier

Inversion Reinforcements Setup for Dia

You can find the Inversion Reinforcements in the inventory, located on the bottom left side. This changes with every new season and needs to be leveled up again. You level up Inversion Reinforcements by doing any activity. However, the fastest way to advance it is by completing Disrupt Invasion (max 4 daily) in the dungeon terminal with the red dungeons.

At max level, you have unlocked everything. While the last perk is always active in each row, you can only slot three additional perks at the bottom. Here is what you want to prioritize:

Dia Inversion Reinforcements:

• Hunt: Arche Circulation Tactic.
• Attribute: None.
• Recovery: Selective Neurostimulation.
• Survival: Deploy Hardened Shell.
• Season: None.

All Dia Transcendent Modules Explained

Currently, Dia has the following transcendent modules:

Blooming Ecstasy

Changes Glacial Clash to Snowflake Clash.

• Snowflake Clash tows collided targets and inflicts Snowflake on them.
• Changes the Snowflake effect to explode immediately upon expiring.

Changes Frost Storm to Frost Bloom.

• Fires a Frozen Spire that creates Frost Bloom at the impact point.
• Frost Bloom increases in Skill Power and range based on charge time.

Chill Brand

Attacking an enemy with a skill has a chance to create a Chill Brand.

Attacking enemies while possessing Chill Brands deals additional damage based on the number of Chill Brands you have.

Ice Wall is changed to Brand Surge.

• Using Brand Surge attaches all owned Chill Brands to the enemy, dealing continuous damage over time.

Avalanche is changed to Glacial Wedge.

• Glacial Wedge is used to target a single enemy.
• Glacial Wedge increases in the number of hits and damage based on charge time.

Dia Basics in The First Descendant

Image credit: YorhnY

If it is your first time playing Dia in The First Descendant, here are some useful things you should know.

1. How to unlock Dia
2. Dia Skills Explanation – Master Dia’s Abilities
3. Module Basics Explained!
4. Best Grapple Hook for Dia

How to Unlock Dia in The First Descendant

Let’s take a quick look at how to unlock Dia in the First Descendant. To unlock Dia, you have to purchase her from the store, or research her. You need the following items to research Dia:

• 1x Dia Enhanced Cells
  • [ Axion Plains ] [ Hard ] – [ Exposed Underwater Base ] complete
  • [ Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation ] [ High-risk ] – [ Broken Boundary ] complete
• 1xDia Stabilizer
  • [ Axion Plains ] [ Hard ] – [ Exposed Underwater Base ] complete
  • [ Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation ] [ High-risk ] – [ Isolated Desert ] complete
• 1x Dia Spiral Catalyst
  • [ Axion Plains ] [ Hard ] – [ Exposed Underwater Base ] complete
  • [ Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation ] [ High-risk ] – [ Isolated Desert ] complete
• 1x Dia Code
  • [ Axion Plains ] [ Hard ] – [ Exposed Underwater Base ] complete
  • [ Sigma Sector Dropoff Operation ] [ High-risk ] – [ Broken Boundary ] complete
• 400k Credits

When you visit Magisters Anais at the Research Institute you can hover over each item. Then click on Acquisition Info and it will tell you where this specific item drops.

The First Descendant Dia Skills Explained

In this section, we will explain the skills available to our Dia Build in the First Descendant, how each skill works, and the best ways for you to use them.

Dia’s skill loadout is themed around electric, applying electric damage to many enemies at once in a big radius.

 

Skill Name	Type	Effect	Best Use Case
Glacial Clash	AoE	Using the skill activates Glacial Clash. Using Glacial Clash dashes forward and stabs enemies to deal damage and inflict Knockback. Holding the skill input activates Glacial Breakthrough. Using Glacial Breakthrough moves forward and damages enemies collided with. Inflicts Snowflake on targets damaged by this skill. Snowflake creates an AoE that deals Explosion Damage.	Damage
Ice Wall	AoE	Grants Ice Wall to self. Ice Wall increases stats and explodes to deal AoE damage. When using Glacial Breakthrough while Ice Wall is active, increases Movement Speed. When Ice Wall ends, restores HP.	Utility
Avalanche	AoE	Launches an Avalanche forward. Avalanche moves while Towing enemies. Hitting a moving Avalanche with the Glacial Clash Skill, triggers a Chill Explosion, which deals AoE damage and inflicts White Panic on enemies. Each time Glacial Clash triggers a Chill Explosion from the same Avalanche, it increases the effect. On hit with Chill Explosion a certain number of times, grants Frost Thorn to self.	Damage
Frost Storm	AoE, Snare	Launches a Frozen Spire forward. On hit Frozen Spire decreases Movement Speed and deals continuous damage to enemies within range. Frozen Spire has a max number of hits and is removed when all hits are exhausted.	Damage
Frozen Delight (Passive)	Passive	When a melee weapon is equipped, increases stats proportional to Max HP. When using the Glacial Clash skill, gains Delight proportional to its duration. Stats increase in proportion to the Delight gauge.	Is always active

Glacial Clash Skill 1

Using the skill activates Glacial Clash. Using Glacial Clash dashes forward and stabs enemies to deal damage and inflict Knockback. Holding the skill input activates Glacial Breakthrough. Using Glacial Breakthrough moves forward and damages enemies collided with. Inflicts Snowflake on targets damaged by this skill. Snowflake creates an AoE that deals Explosion Damage.

Glacial Clash Skill Description:

• Stabs forward with her spear, damaging enemies within range.
• Pressing and holding Glacial Clash changes the skill to Glacial Breakthrough, allowing Dia to continuously move and deal damage to enemies until the skill ends.
• Enemies hit by this attack are inflicted with the Snowflake and White Panic effects.
• Striking enemies inflicted with Snowflake using a melee weapon causes them to explode and suffer damage.
• Enemies inflicted with White Panic suffer reduced Speed.

Ice Wall Skill 2

Grants Ice Wall to self. Ice Wall increases stats and explodes to deal AoE damage. When using Glacial Breakthrough while Ice Wall is active, increases Movement Speed. When Ice Wall ends, restores HP.

Ice Wall Description:

• Using Ice Wall grants the Ice Wall effect and deals damage to enemies within range.
• Using Ice Wall while Glacial Breakthrough is active increases Movement Speed.
• Using the skill while the Ice Wall effect is active increases Skill Critical Hit Damage and DEF.
• Recovers HP and when the Ice Wall effect ends.

Avalanche Skill 3

Launches an Avalanche forward. Avalanche moves while Towing enemies. Hitting a moving Avalanche with the Glacial Clash Skill, triggers a Chill Explosion, which deals AoE damage and inflicts White Panic on enemies. Each time Glacial Clash triggers a Chill Explosion from the same Avalanche, it increases the effect. On hit with Chill Explosion a certain number of times, grants Frost Thorn to self.

Avalanche Description:

• Launches an ‘Avalanche’ forward.
• The Avalanche continuously moves forward, pulling enemies toward it.
• Striking the Avalanche with the Glacial Clash skill triggers a Chill Explosion, dealing damage to enemies within range.
• Triggering Chill Explosion a certain number of times grants the Frost Thorn effect.

Frost Storm Skill 4

Launches a Frozen Spire forward. On hit Frozen Spire decreases Movement Speed and deals continuous damage to enemies within range. Frozen Spire has a max number of hits and is removed when all hits are exhausted.

Frost Storm Description:

• Fires a Frozen Spire forward.
• The Frozen Spire continuously moves forward, dealing damage.
• The Frozen Spire slows down upon colliding with an enemy.

Frozen Delight (Passive)

When a melee weapon is equipped, increases stats proportional to Max HP. When using the Glacial Clash skill, gains Delight proportional to its duration. Stats increase in proportion to the Delight gauge.

Frozen Delight Passive Description:

• Gains ‘Delight’ through Glacial Clash and Avalanche.
• Dia’s Skill Power increases proportionally to the amount of Delight.
• Skill Critical Hit Rate increases proportionally to her Max HP.

How Modules Work in The First Descendant

Modules are the bread and butter of all The First Descendant Builds. There are a few important things to remember about modules. This is for both Descendant and Weapon Modules.

While most builds require you to increase Module Capacity with an Energy Activator (you get two for free), they won’t require you to reduce the Module cost with Crystallization Catalyst. However, if you want to truly min-max a build, you will need plenty of these Catalysts.

1. How to increase your Module Capacity
2. Module Levels and Cost
   1. Kuiper Shards & best way to farm!
3. Reduce the cost of Modules
4. How to farm Modules

How to Increase Module Capacity

You get a base of 45 Modules for every Descendant character. And you can increase this up to 85 currently. First off, always slot a Sub Attack Module (Slot 7). When you increase this to the max level you will get an additional 10 Module Capacity. if you use a Crystallization Catalyst on the Sub Attack Module, you even get 15 extra slots. You will see this in the setup below.

Additionally, you can use an Energy Activator to increase your Module Capacity by another 20. However, these are fairly hard to farm, only use them on your best Descendants.

Lastly, increasing your Mastery Rank will also increase Module Capacity. Rank 1 gives you 25 Module Capacity, Rank 20 gives you 50 Module Capacity. That is how we reach the 80 Module Capacity that you see on most builds.

1. Slot a Sub Attack Module (and max it out to get +10 capacity, crystallize it for +15)
2. Use an Energy Activator (2o extra capacity)
3. Increase Mastery Rank (25 base capacity, max 50)

Weapons: Basically the same, but because you don’t have Subattack Modules, the Energy Activator gives you 30 instead of just 20 extra capacity.

You can also read my in-depth guide on how to increase Module Capacity in The First Descendant if you need more information. Or my Best Energy Activator Farm Spots and our Best Crystallization Catalyst Farm Spots. I tested all of the grind spots by myself and have already farmed plenty of these items with this method.

Module Levels and Cost

Modules can be enhanced (leveled up) with Kuiper Shards in The First Descendant. Enhancing Modules increases their power. At higher levels, the power will increase way more than at lower levels. Therefore it is always recommended to max out the most important Module first.

Here is an example of a must-have Module called Increased HP for our Descendant. You will notice that we start at 22%, but at the max level, we get a whopping 218.5% increase in health!

Transcendent Modules are the exception; they decrease Capacity Cost with higher levels!

For an in-depth overview, please visit our How to Level Up Modules in The First Descendant guide.

How to Farm Kuiper Shards

Kuiper Shards are used to level up Modules. We have a guide on the Top 3 Kuiper Shard Farming Locations in the First Descendant. We explain how to most efficiently farm Kuiper Shards (300-500k/hour) and show the amount you need to level up mods. As a summary, to max out a Module you need:

• Normal Modules: 103’100 Kuiper Shards
• Rare Modules: 206’200 Kuiper Shards
• Ultimate Modules: 309’300 Kuiper Shards
• Transcendent Modules: 515’500 Kuiper Shards

Always max out the most important Modules first, we will showcase the order below.

How to Reduce the Cost of Modules

To reduce the cost of Modules you need Crystallization Catalysts in The First Descendant. These require a lot of time investment, most builds won’t require you to get many if any at all (Budget Setup). But if you want to completely min-max you need to get plenty of them as technically, every slot can have a specific socket type to half the cost.

Modules have Socket Types. Our Increased HP Module has the Cerulean Socket Type.

• Module: Increased HP
• Socket Type: Cerulean

This is important because if we place our Increased HP Module in the fitting Socket Type, it will half the cost of the Module!

How to farm Modules in The First Descendant

Most The First Descendant Modules can be acquired fairly easily, but the higher-quality ones (Ultimate, Transcendent) are more tedious to obtain. Here is the easiest process to farm Modules quickly.

Open Map > Swap to Access Info > Select Modules

Here, you can find all Modules and their drop locations. If a module drops from several locations, it is recommended to select drop locations with higher drop chances.

There isn’t really much more to this. Simply check the location and go farm. Normal and Rare quality Modules have 30-50% drop chances in most cases. Ultimate ones range around the 5% mark and Transcendent ones can be a tough cookie with around 2% drop chance.

We will list the best farming location of modules in the next step of the guide.

Smooth Grapple Hook for your Dia Build

Using the standard Grapple Hook in The First Descendant can be a pain, and it feels kinda frustrating at times. Don’t worry, there is a way better alternative that will make it a joy to use the grappling hook!

It is called the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module. I use this on all my The First Descendant Builds because it improves grappling by so much.

With this Module, you can attach your Grapple Hook to anything, even air! That means you can simply aim towards the sky and Hook up your grapple hook there for guaranteed fast movement!

Here is a guide on how to get the Mid-Air Maneuvering Sub Module in The First Descendant. It won’t take a lot of effort, but it will improve your build and overall gameplay in The First Descendant.

Dia’s Story in The First Descendant

“Outstanding grades with exceptional leadership. Actively carries out assigned duties, but often exhibits a tendency to be stubborn.”

– Excerpt from Albion Military Academy Student Records

“A stubborn honors student.” That was the best description of Dia Elias. She was Albion Military Academy’s most promising cadet, set to join Command unless something unexpected happened. Of course, she was disappointed that she was not a Descendant, but Dia was thrilled that she could at least get revenge on the Vulgus, who had taken her father from her. She did feel guilty about secretly enlisting despite the fierce opposition from her mother, Gley, but she was confident. “I know she’ll be mad when I get back from the mission, but she’ll be proud when she sees this report card.” That’s what she thought.

But the day that Dia could show Gley her report card never came.

The horrific biological experiments that continued without fail every single day, the piling of corpses of her colleagues, Gley’s incessant screams she could not shut out… All of it was a reality far too harsh for Dia, a mere teenage girl, to bear. The most unbearable thing, however, was the guilt that Gley had also been captured by the Vulgus because of her. Yet she could not give up on her will to live, for that would be the ultimate sin she could commit against her mother. “I have to live. I have to live and save my mom.” Every time her consciousness grew hazy, Dia clung to the thought and held on.

Then one day, a huge explosion rang out from the room where Gley was imprisoned, followed by roars of the Vulgus. “Shit, get her now!” Time passed, and soon all was quiet. But she no longer heard Gley’s voice either. Instead, a faint murmur of the researchers’ voices seeped through. From their conversation, Dia realized that Gley had awakened her Arche, and with that power, destroyed the lab and escaped.

She felt no resentment toward Gley that she had left her behind, only relief that she was alive. Perhaps that was why Dia felt strangely at peace during the repeated experiments on her that led to the awakening of her Arche and right up to the moment the Vulgus completely broke her mind.

There was only one thing Dia wished for,
To see her mother one last time before she died.

And to tell her she was sorry.

Dia’s Exclusive Equipment – Gunlance with a built-in Arche Cooling Core, Frozen Spire

Related Guides for The First Descendant

You can also check out our Builds Database for The First Descendant or the TFD Tier List to see where characters rank!